


Brilliance

by emshini



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Baby Hinata Shouyou, F/F, F/M, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Hinata Shouyou Being an Idiot, Hinata Shouyou is Sunshine, My First Work in This Fandom, Other, does this even count as romantic?, if you count 6 years old as a baby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27321262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emshini/pseuds/emshini
Summary: Hinata Shouyo is not good with words, but they get to you all the same.***Cross-posted to Tumblr @saltysugasweet
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Reader, Hinata Shouyou/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	Brilliance

**Author's Note:**

> This came from the few times Hinata was oddly smooth and intimidating for absolutely no reason

Hinata Shouyo is not good with words. 

Granted, he _is_ only in the first year of elementary school, so it’s not unusual that he doesn’t have the knack for writing. If only writing was the only thing he had trouble with.

“Y/N.” He not-so-gently elbows you in the side, bulky tri-side pencil in hand. “Look, I finished my Mothers’ Day card.”

He offers you the card, and you slide it towards you. Standard work for a six-year-old; it wasn’t anything special in your eyes.

“You’ve only drawn in grey-lead.”

He cocks his head. “Isn’t that okay?”

“Well, I think it would look better if you used some colour on it.”

He huffs, crossing his arms. He had _art skills_ , it’s just... “I wasn’t finished!”

“But you just said that--”

He shakes his head and cuts you off. “Doesn’t matter, what do you think about the writing? You’re good at writing.” You were indeed the ‘writing kid’ with the widest vocabulary and best handwriting. A crown you wore with pride, proven by the prized sticker Sensei had given you to commend your prowess. 

You flip the card open. Shouyo’s illegible scrawl marked out a garbled message.

“Sensei’s handwriting doesn’t look like this.”

“I-- hey! Yours doesn’t look like Sensei’s either!”

“True, but it looks a lot better than this. What does it say?” You squint at the card, leaning closer to inspect the scribbles. “Dear Mum, Mothers’ Happy Day. You’re the Hinata. From Shouyo.” The _Hi_ in Hinata was drawn over multiple times. You look at him with furrowed eyebrows. “Shouyo, it’s ‘Happy Mothers’ Day’, not ‘Mothers’ Happy Day’. Didn’t Sensei teach us this?”

He points at the paper indignantly. “You’ve got all the parts of the sentence there, it makes sense!”

“You don’t say it like that, though.”

Shouyo goes quiet. He reaches for his eraser.

You look at the card again. “Also, what does ‘You’re the Hinata’ mean? Aren’t you a Hinata too? Doesn’t she already know she’s a Hinata?” You snap your head to face him, shock seeping through your skin. “Shouyo, is your mum even dumber than _you_?”

“Hey! That’s mean!”

“But I’m telling the truth.”

“Didn’t Sensei say that you shouldn’t say mean things? What happened to that?”

You still for a few seconds. “You’re right. Sorry, Shouyo.”

“That’s okay.”

“What _does_ ‘You’re the Hinata’ mean, though? You didn’t tell me.”

“Oh!” He wiggles in his chair to sit up taller and raise his chin as if the added height would assert ingenuity. ”Sensei taught us how to write our names in kanji, and the kanji for _Hi_ in Hinata is the same as the kanji for Sun, so I made the kanji for Sun really, uh.” He slouches again, stumped. “What’s the word for it?” 

“Um. Bold?”

“Yeah! I made it really bold so it looks like ‘You’re the Sun’, which is what Mum says to me all the time ‘cause she says I’m bright as the Sun, but it really says ‘You’re the Hinata’, which is our surname.”

“That’s… that’s actually really smart, Shouyo.”

“I know, right?”

“But what does she mean you’re ‘bright as the Sun’? You don’t glow like the Sun does.”

“I don’t know. It just sounds cool.”

* * *

* * *

“Hm? The Tiny Giant?”

Shouyo was going to vibrate out of his skin. “Yeah! I saw him when I passed by the electronics store. Man, he was so cool! I wanna be like him!” He starts carving arcs in the air from his place on the park swing. ” His jumps were like whoosh and he hit the ball like _pyong_ and then the ball would _pang_ off and--”

“Why are you so amazed at that? You’ve never even seen a volleyball match before.”

He stills and looks at the tanbark beneath his feet, the intensity of his eyes bores holes into the ground. His voice softens, a stark contrast between his usual baseless confidence. “It’s ‘cause he’s like me.”

His sudden change in tone catches you off guard. Your voice lowers to match his. “Like you?”

“He’s small, but he can still play so well that his height doesn’t even matter.” His smile returns. The excitement there, but barely restrained under his awe. “His small height makes him even scarier when you know how good he is.”

“So you wanna be like the Tiny Giant?”

“Of course!” He perks up.

“Hm.” You stare at him, contemplative. His sparkling eyes drill into yours, and you divert your eyes and hop off your swing. “Well, if you want to be a tiny giant,” you start, and swivel to face him. “Then you’ve got to stand eye to eye with the Goliaths.”

“Goliath? What?”

“Like even bigger giants. Your opponents. And if you want to stand on the same court as _the_ Tiny Giant,” you grin at him, bringing your hands to rest on your hips. “Then how about we work on your jumps?”

* * *

* * *

“Y/N, how does English even work?”

You lean back from the English textbook you two were studying together. How long had you spent reading this text and explaining every word to him? You like to think that he and you had a good friendship, built on years of solidarity and embarrassing moments tying you two together. His astounding incompetence was testing it. 

“Shouyo, sometimes I wonder how your mind has gotten you this far.”

“Oi!” Shouyo looks at you, scandalised. “So mean.” 

You smile a little too fondly at his dramatics. ”Come on.” You knock the page with your knuckle. “Back to reading.”

He grumbles reluctantly. “Y/N, it’s only the second year of middle school, do I really need to know this?”

“If you wanna play in the volleyball club when we’re in high school, you need a passing grade.”

He groans, leaning back over his chair and sliding his hands over his face. “But that’s ages away!”

You give him a flat look. “Tell that to me again when you’re not allowed to go to a tournament cause you failed English.”

He pauses and leans forward to stare through the glazed window, and you wonder if your words have finally gotten to him. Only the simplest of words and volleyball could permeate his inch-thick skull. 

You watch him contemplate in the rare silence, Sunday afternoon sunlight filtering through the desk-side window and trickling through his hair, softening jarring tangerine to wispy amber. He would look angelic, if not for its sharp juxtaposition against his scrunched face and hunched shoulders. Not flattering. 

You snap up straight when he leans against the chair’s back, face smoothing out. “Why do I need English,” he starts, and then levels you with those shining eyes and that warming smile. “I have a thousand words to give you in Japanese.” 

He’s inept at crafting words for schoolwork but has the audacity to hit you with a line and eyes like _that_? You huff and jerk your eyes away from that damn face. Silly grin like he’s figured out the secrets to the world. 

“I don’t think you even know that many words in Japanese.”

“Hey!”

* * *

* * *

Considering your long-time history with Shouyo, you weren’t expecting separation this soon.

* * *

**Time:** 3/28 20:32

 **From:** Hinata Shouyo

 **Subject:** high school (╥_╥)

* * *

hey Y/N, you were going to kakegawa high, right? AHHHH that sucks we’re not going to be in the same school anymore (ㄒoㄒ)

* * *

* * *

**Time:** 3/28 20:33

 **To:** Hinata Shouyo

 **Subject:** Re: high school (╥_╥)

* * *

Yeah, i’m going to kakegawa

I wouldve come with you to karasuno, but half an hour by bike? That’s so farrr like i know that you want to chase your dreams of being tiny giant, but half an hour’s just yikes

* * *

* * *

**Time:** 3/28 20:34

 **From:** Hinata Shouyo

 **Subject:** Re: high school (╥_╥)

* * *

I know karasuno’s not considered that strong anymore, but it’s where the tiny giant came from!! Next time i face that dummy setter, im going to crush him!!!

And we can still hang out on the weekends and study together. You’ll still toss for me, right?

* * *

* * *

**Time:** 3/28 20:34

 **To:** Hinata Shouyo

 **Subject:** Re: high school (╥_╥)

* * *

Of course i’ll toss for you, but shouyo

If you go to a school thats not strong anymore, wont it be like a repeat of yukigaoka vbc? What if you’re the only one again? I know it’s kind of too late to be pointing this out, but im still worried

* * *

* * *

**Time:** 3/28 20:35

 **From:** Hinata Shouyo

Subject: Re: high school (╥_╥)

* * *

I dont think so. Maybe there’ll be people like me who want to play at karasuno because they went to nationals. And if i’m playing with people who are like me and understand

volleyball better than me, then I’ll definitely become the tiny giant!

* * *

You stare at the words on your screen. 

Shouyo has always aimed too high, high enough that the arrow will come crashing down on him with you to pick up the pieces. Yet, with simple words, strong words, _confident_ words like that, you find yourself compelled to aim high, too. 

You click the reply button. 

_Okay, just make sure that once you meet all your new volleyball friends you won’t forget about me._

You delete it.

* * *

**Time:** 3/28 20:35

 **From:** Hinata Shouyo

 **Subject:** Re: high school (╥_╥)

* * *

Besides, karasuno will have me!

* * *

You slap your free hand to your face. Maybe his words were a little _too_ confident.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This is my first Haikyuu!! fic, so I'm not sure how well I got the characterisation...
> 
> The reader goes to Kakegawa cause the volleyball uniform is the same colour as Yukigaoka's so I though Yukigaoka could be like a feeder school to Kakegawa? Idk I'm probably drawing conclusions too far. Was the email part too confusing with the horizontal lines? I thought that it'd make it a bit clearer but maybe it's just me
> 
> There will be a part two! just not entirely sure where I want this to go yet cause this came from a sudden burst of inspiration. Stay tuned!


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